His Trouble Maker

Chapter 126

JESSICA

9.83%

My wolf still reacts at Riot being nearby. Although it’s my wolf, I think I’m getting confused by her reactions. Tendencies are, she reacts for him and that makes it worse because that only means whatever Grayson has done is—

No.

No, that’s not it.

My wrists burn raw against the rope again. I pull once, sharp, testing if the sweat from my back slicked the knot enough to shift it, but it only bites deeper. I taste the bark on my tongue. I smell the fucking rot of the meat he’s eating. Rabbit, maybe. Something small and still steaming, bones snapping in his mouth like he’s doing it for show.

My wolf licks her teeth. She doesn’t flinch from the sound. She doesn’t flinch from him.

I do.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it?

She still wants to roll belly–up every time he comes close. She still presses into the scent of him like it’s some kind of anchor. She still wants to believe the monster chewing tendon in front of me is a pack. She doesn’t understand what Grayson did. She doesn’t understand what he gave me.

He doesn’t look at me.

He hasn’t looked at me all morning.

Just sits there at the fire, crunching through tendon like he’s camping, like I’m not tied to a fucking tree with piss–stained moss under my knees and bruises on the inside of my thighs from where he carried me like a corpse.

him with

My stomach clenches and it’s not just hunger. It’s shame. It’s the way I feel every time I smell him. Like I’ve already lost. Like my wolf has already made her fucking choice.

She twitches. Perks. She wants to get closer. Idiot. Monster. I hate her. She hears his chewing and leans into it. She thinks it means safety. She thinks it means mate.

Across the clearing, Riot lifts his head. Doesn’t even look at me. Just says, lazy, like it’s a joke, like he hasn’t shattered my whole fucking life already-

Do you

mouth opens.

shaking. I’m not crying. I think I’m dehydrated. I think I’m gonna pass out. I think I’d still bite him if he got close enough. I

Still not fucking

Fuck you.

It wants out. My wolf wants to

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08:

Wed, 3 Sept

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Chapter 126

He throws the bone.

see it. It lands near my foot with a wet slap. Still steaming. Ripped meat still clinging to the end. My jaw clamps shut and

Riot stands.

don’t move. I don’t breathe.

like he just woke up from a nap. Rolls his shoulders, cracks his

Stupid bitch. She

wrists burn. Rope. Rope. Rope. Rope. If I pull hard enough I’ll bleed. If I scream he’ll laugh. If

seen what that does to girls. I’m

“Fuck you,” I say.

He stops walking.

Silence.

smirk. It spreads like a crack across his face. His eyes stay wrong. Riot crouches and tilts his head like he’s sizing

my face

throat. “Still got a

going anywhere. I

we waiting for?” I

waiting for?” he repeats, slow, quiet. His mouth curls at the edges. “That’s a funny fucking

back to the pack. If I drag you through the village and put you in the square

close enough for the heat of the fire to hit my skin